1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite film for coating the surface of wood, plastic, ceramic, stone, concrete, metal, and the like. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a surface coating material formed of the composite film. In particular, the present invention relates to the composite film which is used as a coating film for daily maintenance, ornament, and protection of materials such as wood, plastic, ceramic, stone, concrete, metal, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Liquid paint has been hitherto applied to the surface of a to-be-coated material to decorate or protect wood, plastic, ceramic, stone, concrete, metal, and the like.
However, the liquid paint has a fatal defect.
That is, the liquid paint splashes or wets materials which should not be wet when it is applied to the surface of a to-be-coated material, thus being attached to portions which should not be painted. Further, the liquid paint may be attached to an operator's body. In addition, it is difficult to obtain a coating film which coats the surface of the material in a uniform thickness. In the case of colored paint, when the surface of the to-be-coated material is painted in non-uniform thickness, various tones are formed on the surface thereof.
Furthermore, because organic substance contained in paint is liable to volatilize, a workroom is filled with gas volatilized from the organic substance, which deteriorates the atmosphere of the workroom. Thus, a large painting equipment such as a painting booth is required.
In order to solve the above-described defects of the liquid paint, the paint or the marking film is described in "Painting Technology" (published in 1988, Vol. 23, No. 7, page 271).
In addition, according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2-166000, an application film is provided to prevent generation of bubbles which are liable to be generated when a composite film is attached to a to-be-coated material, and a method of facilitating the positioning of the composite film in bonding it to the to-be-coated material is also provided.
Further, a composite film is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-38797. According to the composite film, after an extensible semi-hardened resin film is stuck to a to-be-coated material, the resin film is hardened by irradiation. Thus, the,resin film can be stuck to articles having irregular surfaces or curved surfaces in addition to an article having a flat surface.
However, although the conventional composite film is capable of forming a mirror-like surface on the to-be-coated material, it is incapable of duplicating very fine irregularity of the to-be-coated material.
Therefore, the conventional liquid paint is indispensable for representing fine irregularity of the to-be-coated material beautifully. That is, the conventional composite film is not used to express the fine irregularity such as capillary tubes of wood but used to form a smooth surface of the to-be-coated material. Therefore, it is difficult for the conventional method to form a composite film duplicating fine irregularity. That is, the conventional method is accomplishing open pore surface finish well known in the field of woodworking.
The open pore means a method of coating the surface of natural solid material or plywood. In this method, capillary tubes are not charged with filler but a thin liquid paint is penetrated into the natural solid material or the plywood and thinly attached to the surface thereof to keep the natural appearance thereof.